Method and tool for refilling spent shells with shot

ABSTRACT

The refilling tool has a tubular stem at one end, and in its opposite end has an annular recess which surrounds a cylindrical boss that is disposed coaxially of the stem. The stem will hold just enough shot to fill one shell. After the stem is loaded with shot, a plastic wad is positioned over the outer end of the stem, and an empty shell is pressed over the stem to force the wad into the shell to a predetermined depth. The assembly is then inverted and the tool is withdrawn. A second wad is then placed in the now-upper end of the shell above the shot; and the boss on the tool is placed against this second wad to force it into the shell so that the shot is secured in the shell between the two wads.

United States Patent Inventor John F. Vedas Webster, NY.

Appl. No. 820,444

Filed Apr. 30, 1969 Patented Aug. 10, 1971 Assignee Crosman Arms Company, Inc.

Fairport, N.Y.

METHOD AND TOOL FOR REFILLING SPENT SHELLS WITH sum 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

us. a 86/28,

Int. Cl ..F42b 33/02,

Field of Search 86/23, 24,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 301,465 7/1884 Cheeseman 86/28 Primary Examiner-Samuel Feinberg Assistant Examiner-Jerald J. Devitt Attorney-B. Edward Shlesinger ABSTRACT: The refilling tool has a tubular stem at one end, and in its opposite end has an annular recess which surrounds a cylindrical boss that is disposed coaxially of the stem. The stem will hold just enough shot to fill one shell. After the stem is loaded with shot, a plastic wad is positioned over the outer end of the stern, and an empty shell is pressed over the stem to force the wad into the shell to a predetermined depth. The assembly is then inverted and the tool is withdrawn. A second wad is then placed in the now-upper end of the shell above the shot; and the boss on the tool is placed against this second wad to force it into the shell so that the shot is secured in the shell between the two wads Patented Aug. 10; 1971 FIG. 6

INVENTOR JOHN F VADAS ATTORNEY METHOD AND TOOL FOR REFILLING SPENT SHELLS WITH SHOT This invention relates to a method and tool for refilling spent shotgun shells of the type employed in gas-powered guns, and more particularly to shells of the type disclosed in my copending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 537,403, filed Mar. 25, 1966, and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application.

The shell disclosed in the above-noted application comprises a resilient, but relatively stiff plastic cylinder that has an external ring flange at one end for seating the shell properlyin the barrel of the shotgun, and a quantity of shot held between two wads, one of which is frictionally, press-fit into the rear end of the cylinder, the other of which is fixed in the front end of the cylinder by a plurality of spaced, frangible legs, opposite ends of which are integral with this front wad and with the cylinder, respectively. When the shotgun isfired, a charge of compressed gas is released behind the press-fit wad, to force it and the shot forward, and shear the wad legs of the front wad, and propel the two wads and the shot out of the gun barrel. As is the case with conventional shotgun shells, the spent shell or casing (i.e., the cylinder and its external flange) remains in the gun barrel.

Heretofore it has been the practice to discard these spent shells. However, since the spent shells are not damaged, except for the destruction of the frangible legs, and since the shell casing itself constitutes a major portion of the cost of a new, unused shell, this practice is extremely wasteful.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to eliminate this unnecessary waste by providing a novel method for refilling spent shells or casings of the type described.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel tool for use in the refilling operation. 7

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view axially of a refilling tool made in accordance with one embodiment of this invention;

, FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view ofthis tool;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are elevational views, partly in section, and illustrating how the tool may be used to fill a spent shotgun shell; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan and longitudinal sectional views, respectively, of a new, unused shell of the type which is adapted to be refilled, after it has been fired, by use of the novel method and tool disclosed herein.

Referring now to the drawing by numerals of reference, and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the tool 10 consists of a piece of metal block or the like. It has a reduced-diameter tubular stem portion 12, and an enlarged-diameter head portion 14. At the juncture of its stem and head portions the tool has an external shoulder 15. In its head portion 14 it has an annular recess 16, which has a flat bottom 17. Recess l6 surrounds a cylindrical boss 18, which is coaxial of the tubular stem 12.

The blind bore 20, which extends centrally through the stem portion 12, is dimensioned to hold a quantity of shot S substantially equal to the quantity required to refill a spent shell of the type described hereinafter. Adjacent its terminal end the outside diameter of stem 12 is reduced still further as at 21 to form an external circumferential shoulder 22. The reduced diameter portion 21 facilitates the insertion of a cap or wad over the stem 12, as noted below.

The external shoulder 15 is axially spaced from the outer, terminal end of the stem 12 a' distance slightly less than the overall axial length of the shell that is to be refilled. Also, the bottom 17 of recess 16 is axially spaced a predetermined axial distance from the outer, terminal'end of the head portion 14, so that the projection 18 will extend a predetermined axial distance into the shell that is to be refilled, as explained in more detail below.

Preferably the head has a knurled outer peripheral surface 25 to facilitate manipulation of the tool. FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a new or unused shell 30 of the type disclosed in my above-noted copending application, and which is adapted to be refilled, after firing, by the method and tool disclosed herein. Shell 30 comprises a hollow, flexible, plastic cylinder 31, which has an external, circumferential flange 32 at its rear end. A load of shot S is secured in the casing 31 between wads 34 and 35. The spider-shaped wad 34 is .fixed to the cylinder casing 31 by a plurality of angularly spaced, frangible legs 36 which are integral with casing 31, while the flexible, plastic, cup-shaped wad 35 is frictionally held in cylinder 31 as by a press fit.

When the shell 30 is placed in the appropriate gun and fired, the legs 36 are sheared from cylinder 31, and the two wads and the shot S are discharged from casing 31, leaving an emptyshell casing.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate how a spent shell or casing 30 is refilled. First the bore 20 of. the stem 12 of tool 10 is filled to its top with a supply of shot S. A flexible, cup-shaped plastic cap or wad 35, which is similar to that employed in the unused shell 30, is then inserted over the outer end of the stem 12 of the tool, with the open end of the cap seated against the shoulder 22. The maximum external diameter of this cap or wad 35' is slightly greater than the internal diameter of the cylinder 31 ofthe spent shell 30'. Shell 30' is then pushed over cap 35', as illustrated in FIG. 3, and is pressed downwardly over the capped end of stem 12 until the flange 32 on the shell seats against the shoulder 15. The length of stem l2i.e. the distance between shoulder 15 and the outer end of stem 12- is only slightly less than the length of shell 30, so this operation forces the cap 35 a substantial distance into the casing 31. Thereafter the tool 10 and shell 30 are inverted; and the tool 10 is withdrawn from the shell. The reduced diameter portion 21 of the tool stem 12 slides out of the cap or wad 35 without displacing the cap.

The upper end of the casing is then closed .by placing a plastic cap or wad 35" in the now-upper or flanged end of the shell 30 with the open end of this cap facing upwardly. The boss 18 in the head 14 of the tool is then inserted into the cap 35" to tamp the cap 35" into the shell until the flange 32 on the shell seats against the bottom 17 of the recess 16. The shot S in the shell 30' is thus secured between the wads or caps 35 and 35", each of which has been pressed into the cylinder 31 by the tool 10 to a predetermined depth. This has the effect of spacing the caps 35 and 35" from one another in the shell just far enough to accommodate therebetween the desired quantity of shot 5. The refilling operation is now complete.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the instant invention provides a novel method and tool for refilling spent shotgun shells of the type described; and of consequently avoiding needless waste of shell casings. As a result, shells may be reused over and over again, the only expenditure involved upon the refilling of each shell being the cost of the shot and of a pair of wads or caps for holding the shot in the shell. The bore 20 is designed to hold the exact quantity of shot necessary to refill one spent shell. The tool takes the place of a separate funnel for feeding shot into the spent shell. Moreover, there is no guessing at the depth to which the wads 35 and 35 must be inserted in each shell, because the dimensions of the stem 12 and recess 16 are selected specifically for the purpose of positioning the wads properly in the shell during the refilling operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The method of refilling spent shotgun shells with a tool which has an open-ended tubular stem at one end adapted to hold enough shot to fill one shell, and a cylindrical boss at its opposite end, comprising filling the stern through its open end with a quantity of shot sufficient to fill one shell while holding the tool with the open end of its tubular stem facing upwardly,

placing a wad over the open end of the stem to hold the shot therein,

forcing one end of an empty shell coaxially over the wad and the stem to force the wad into the shell,

inverting the shell and tool so that the shot is transferred from the stem to the shell with the shot disposed above said wad,

withdrawing the stem from the shell,

placing a second wad over the shot in said shell and into said one end of the shell while holding said shell with said one end thereof facing upwardly,

manipulating the tool to cause said boss to force said second wad into said one end of said shell to a blocking position above said shot, and

withdrawing the tool from the shell so that the shot remains secured in the shell between the wads.

2. A tool for use in refilling spent shotgun shells,

said tool having an open-mouthed, hollow tubular stem at one end for holding a supply of shot sufficient to refill one spent shell, and having a cylindrical boss which is in axial alignment with said stem, and said tool having a pair of axially spaced, external shoulders formed on it,

one of said shoulders being axially spaced inwardly from the outer end of said stern a distance only slightly less than the length of the shell that is to be refilled,

the other of said shoulders being axially spaced inwardly from the outer end of said boss a distance substantially less than the first-named distance, and

both said boss and said stem having an outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of the shell that is to be refilled.

3. A tool for use in filling shotgun shells having a head portion, and

a hollow. tubular stern portion,

said stem ponion projecting from one side of said head,

said head portion having at its opposite side an annular recess surrounding a boss,

said boss being aligned axially with said stem,

said tool having a shoulder at the juncture of said stem and head portions,

both said stem and said boss having an external diameter sightly less than the bore of the shell which is to be filled,

said stem being adapted to hold a wad and a load of shot below said wad, and adapted to be inserted into a shell whereby, upon inversion of said tool, said wad and said shot are transferred to said shell with said wad disposed at and closing one end of said shell, and said boss being usable to tamp a second wad into the other end of said shell.

4. A tool as claimed in claim 3, wherein said stem is of reduced diameter at its end remote from said head to permit easy removal of said tool from said shell after said shell is loaded with said one wad and said shot. 

1. The method of refilling spent shotgun shells with a tool which has an open-ended tubular stem at one end adapted to hold enough shot to fill one shell, and a cylindrical boss at its opposite end, comprising filling the stem through its open end with a quantity of shot sufficient to fill one shell while holding the tool with the open end of its tubular stem facing upwardly, placing a wad over the open end of the stem to hold the shot therein, forcing one end of an empty shell coaxially over the wad and the stem to force the wad into the shell, inverting the shell and tool so that the shot is transferred from the stem to the shell with the shot disposed above said wad, withdrawing the stem from the shell, placing a second wad over the shot in said shell and into said one end of the shell while holding said shell with said one end thereof facing upwardly, manipulating the tool to cause said boss to force said second wad into said one end of said shell to a blocking position above said shot, and withdrawing the tool from the shell so that the shot remains secured in the shell between the wads.
 2. A tool for use in refilling spent shotgun shells, said tool having an open-mouthed, hollow tubular stem at one end for holding a supply of shot sufficient to refill one spent shell, and having a cylindrical boss which is in axial alignment with said stem, and said tool having a pair of axially spaced, external shoulders formed on it, one of said shoulders being axially spaced inwardly from the outer end of said stem a distance only slightly less than the length of the shell that is to be refilled, the other of said shoulders being axially spaced inwardly from the outer end of said boss a distance substantially less than the first-named distance, and both said boss and said stem having an outside diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of the shell that is to be refilled.
 3. A tool for use in filling shotgun shells having a head portion, and a hollow, tubular stem portion, said stem portion projecting from one side of said head, said head portion having at its opposite side an annular recess surrounding a boss, said boss being aligned axially with said stem, said tool having a shoulder at the juncture of said stem and head portions, both said stem and said boss having an external diameter sightly less than the bore of the shell which is to be filled, said stem being adapted to hold a wad and a load of shot below said wad, and adapted to be inserted into a shell whereby, upon inversion of said tool, said wad and said shot are transferred to said shell with said wad disposed at and closing one end of said shell, and said boss being usable to tamp a second wad into the other end of said shell.
 4. A tool as claimed in claim 3, wherein said stem iS of reduced diameter at its end remote from said head to permit easy removal of said tool from said shell after said shell is loaded with said one wad and said shot. 